Quick Description: The Premonstratensian monastery in the town Milevsko, the oldest in South Bohemia, is a valuable monument of Romanesque architecture. It is situated on the northern outskirts of Milevsko, which was found at the same time as the monastery....

The monastery of the Premonstratensian canon in Milevsko is the oldest in South Bohemia - it was founded on an earlier settlement with a tribune church of St. Giles (Sv. Jiljí) in 1187 by prominent Czech magnate Jirí z Milevska (George of Milevsko.

Monastery's first abbot was Gerlachus (Jarloch), author of the renowned chronicle which serves as a major source of information about the Czech history in the late 12th century. At that time the biggest and most significant Romanesque buildings in South Bohemia were gradually built here: a three-aisled basilica with a double-tower forefront and buildings of the convent. In the 14th century the monastery grew and got richer. More buildings appeared, others were remodeled (Gothic palaces at the basilica end, chapterhouse hall etc.). Also the parish church of St. Gilles (Sv. Jiljí) acquired a new Gothic look. The monastery was damaged in 1420 by the Hussites. The emperor Zikmund pledged the estates to the neighboring feudals, particularly the Rosenbergs (Rožmberkové). From 1473 the estates were pledged to the Švamberk family who sold them in 1581 to the Hodejovský family of Hodejov. The latter family lost the estates after the Bílá Hora (White Mountain) battle when they were confiscated. The Premonstratensian order got the monastery and a part of the estates back in 1622. Some buildings were rebuilt in the Baroque style (deanery, basilica, western part of the convent, granary, brewery, barns etc.). In the 19th and 20th centuries the entire complex fell into disrepair.

The reconstruction of the unique complex started only in 1990s, in time when the Monastery was returned again into hands of Premonstratensian order...